Inversion
by LunaSoleil07
Summary: Jonny's away at college, and Jessie's taking a year off before she goes. During the summer a new guy, Jager comes onto Jessie. There is a connection with Jager and an inverted photo that Jessie has of Jonny. JessieJonny.
1. Triumphant Return

This is the first chapter of _Inversion_ again. Sorry, but I just had to correct the mistakes that I found when I was looking in over again. This is NOT an update!

_Inversion_: Chapter 1

Jessie Bannon absentmindedly stared at the photo that had puzzled her for so long a time. No matter how many times she tried to redevelop it, it always came out as a negative. It didn't look to be a meaningful shot, just a timed one of herself, Jonny, and Hadji sitting on a fence near the edge of the Quest estate, but it had importance within her own mind.

It had been taken just before Jonny had left for college.

When he'd left, he'd promised to call, write, visit, the whole shebang. He had written to all of them, but didn't visit once, nor did he call.

He had left nearly a year and a half ago. And he still wasn't back.

A single picture was all that Jessie had gotten from him over the summer, from some kind of scavenger hunt thing to initiate the freshmen, taken by his senior. Jessie glanced over at the photo of Jonny working laboriously in the sun. Her bright green eyes traveled over Jonny's tanned torso, shown clearly in the picture since he was digging shirtless, down to whatever he was excitedly pulling out. His grin, though frozen, showed Jessie how little her childhood friend had changed. Her eyes rose back up to his face, tanner than before, but with the same shock of blonde hair and the same vivid blue eyes.

She glanced at the clock and went reluctantly to her closet, where she pulled out a form**-**fitting red shirt and a black skirt along with her favorite black boots. Jessie made a face as she stared at the skirt. She didn't much like skirts; she thought they hindered her in movement, which she always needed in case some weirdo tried attacking any of her adopted family. But tonight was a "special occasion," according to her dad; some new teen in town who called himself Jager had asked her out on a date.

Her first real, official, yes**-**I**-**am**-**in**-**my**-**own**-**body date.

Joy.

She changed rapidly, still studying the negative photo.

_How odd,_ she thought to herself. _With Jonny inverted, his blonde hair and blue eyes both become black. Jonny inverted looks exactly like Jager does._ She shrugged as she zipped her boots up, dismissing the similarity from her mind.

Halfway across the country, Jonny Quest lay in his room, taking a short break before going to his math class; he had to take advantage of the tutoring while it was here.

_Jessie,_ he reflected. _And Hadji. I wonder how they are. I haven't seen them in such a long time that I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't just imaginary friends._

"Mail for you, Jonny!" his roommate, Risika, called as she stepped through the door, tossing him a package that bore an air mail stamp. She sat down at the computer and began surfing the web, politely ignoring Jonny so as to give him some privacy.

Jonny sat up and eagerly opened it, ready for news of his friends and family. Once he opened the package though, he stared down at it in surprise. Something was sitting on top that was clearly _not_ from his friends, and had evidently been slipped in at the last minute without the senders' knowledge.

It was a picture of himself, but... not. Black hair, not blonde; black eyes, not blue; pale clothing, not dark. But to the right of the not**-**Jonny, Jessie was photographed, and _she_ wasn't inverted. The only thing that struck Jonny as odd about Jessie was the expression on her face. Jessie's eyes held a dullness in them that seemed to say more eloquently than words how uncomfortable she was with the boy.

A simple message was inscribed on the reverse of it: _She has moved on. It would be well if you do the same_. There was no signature.

Jonny swore softly and he crumpled the photo into a tight ball. He tossed it from his sight, and sifted through the rest of the parcel.

One letter from Hadji, one from his dad, one from Race, one from Jessie, and... Jonny laughed loudly when he saw that Bandit had included his paw print on the inner wrapping.

Then he began reading Jessie's letter and sobered slightly, a hint of a smile still playing around his mouth.

_Dear Jonny,_

_I'm so jealous of you, getting to leave for college already. Dad wanted me to take a year off, just like he did before going to college; he does realize that we are _two different people_, right? Anyway, on to town news. There's this new kid that just moved here, Jager. He's been coming onto me, pretty strongly, and it's been kind of hard for me. I mean, you guys always said how pretty I am, but I've never really believed it. But it's weird (don't think I'm crazy!)... You remember that negative photo I have of us? Well, he looks just like you do in that inverted picture. Anyway, Dad convinced me to go out with the guy once, and he was a perfect gentleman._

_But I couldn't get _you_ out of my mind the whole way through. (Curse you, Jonny Quest!)_

_I really miss you, Jonny. Come home soon._

_Love, Jessie._

Jonny thought absently to himself, _I miss you, too, Jessie._ He gently tucked her letter back into its envelope before reaching for a pen and paper to write a note to her. After a week or so, he would have the next month off, and would be coming home.

A few weeks later, Jessie was staring at Jager as he begged her forgiveness. Her mind flashed back to the pain she'd felt when he'd slapped her. After she told him she didn't want to see him anymore, he'd hit her. Hard.

She interrupted his deluge of pardon**-**begging with, "Why are you doing this? I don't care how sorry you are, you can't take back what you did." She winced slightly after speaking; the bruise on her face made it difficult talking without it hurting.

Jager's black eyes looked back at her sorrowfully. "Jess, please. I didn't mean it. But you told me you didn't want to see me anymore, and I couldn't understand why. Then when you told me that Jonny would be returning, I knew that it was because of him that you didn't want me around. Then I just... I got _so angry_ at you leaving me for someone else..."

"Sorry, Jager," she said shortly. "But how can I be leaving you if I was never with you?" Jessie stood to leave, but paused when she heard Jager call after her.

"What d'you mean, Jess?"

A smirk played across her mouth. "I mean that I was never went out with you by choice." She turned on her heel, leaving him slack**-**jawed, and went into the Quest/Bannon house. Once the door had safely shut behind her, she let out a laugh that had been bubbling up within her since she'd told him that Jonny was coming back. She continued laughing hysterically, sinking down onto the foyer floor, hiccupping and laughing alternately.

That was how Jonny found her when he stepped through the door: on the floor, desperately in need of oxygen. He quickly lifted Jessie up and carried her into her room, and gently laid her onto her bed.

Then Jessie saw him, and instantly stopped laughing. "Jonny!" she cried, and lunged to envelop him in a fierce embrace. He hugged back just as tightly, but let her go when a blush stained her features and she pulled away.

"You're here! You're back!" She paused suddenly and suspiciously asked, "This isn't a dream, is it?" When Jonny shook his head no, she smiled and hugged him again. But then Jonny cried out, pressing his fingertips to his temples.

Jessie stared at him in shock and asked him, "Jonny, what's wrong? What can I do?"

Jonny stared back, eyes glazed over. Then he whispered, "Get me into QuestWorld."

Author Notes

Hello there, m'dears. This has been rattling around in my head for a while... Leave reviews!


	2. Battleground

Hello again. Many apologies for not updating sooner. Thank you for all the lovely reviews. You all get pizza!

**Disclaimer:** Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Jonny Quest... so screw you! (This is why I don't submit poems.)

**Last time:** "You're here! You're back!"Jessie paused suddenly and suspiciously asked, "This isn't a dream, is it?" When Jonny shook his head no, she smiled and hugged him again. But then Jonny cried out, pressing his fingertips to his temples.

Jessie stared at him in shock and asked him, "Jonny, what's wrong? What can I do?"

Jonny stared back, eyes glazed over. Then he whispered, "Get me into QuestWorld."

**Inversion: Battleground**

Jessie stared fearfully at her best friend, who was convulsing slightly in the chair. Hadji also looked at Jonny worriedly, wondering what was making him shake like that. Jonny had been transported into QuestWorld just moments ago, and had almost immediately started shuddering, as though someone was fighting him.

"Fighting him…" Hadji whispered. Then he turned around and asked Dr. Quest and Race, "Is there a way to see as Jonny sees in QuestWorld?"

Race looked at Hadji oddly. "Of course there is, Hadji. What, has your remembrance of the QuestWorld technology suddenly dissipated after your summer away?" Not waiting for an answer, Race typed in the necessary code, and then gestured to the screen above his head.

A gasp involuntarily flew from Jessie's mouth. "_Kuso_," she hissed in Japanese.

Race turned and narrowed his eyes slightly at his daughter. "I told you not to curse, Jessica."

"Oh, please, Dad!" Jessie snapped, her mind wavering from the matter at hand. "I'm over eighteen. But…" She returned her attention back to the screen. "Dad, it's Jager," she whispered.

Race finally focused on the screen and swore in one of the many languages he knew. His eyes ablaze with figurative flames, he swung around and snapped, "What is going on here?!"

Benton stared at the screen and absentmindedly rubbed his bearded chin. "Extraordinary. Jessie," he said, turning to the girl, "when did you meet this boy, this _Jager_?"

Jessie wracked her brain, keeping one eye on the fight going on right in front of her, albeit in QuestWorld. "Uh, just this summer." She winced when Jonny took a dreadful hit from Jager, shown both on the screen and in Jonny's trembling form, but she forced her mind to pay attention to Dr. Quest.

"Have you ever seen him before this summer? I know that this summer was the first time you met him, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't have seen him elsewhere."

Jessie's eyes widened as the dismissed connection was suddenly reestablished. "_The photo!_" she cried in disbelief.

Hadji's eyes also widened as he realized what she meant. He moved so quickly that he was by Jessie's side in an eyeblink, though she was on the other side of the room. Hadji grabbed Jessie's shoulder and said urgently, "Jessie, did you do anything to that photo while we were away?"

Jessie hit herself in the head, angry. "I uploaded it into QuestWorld," she admitted. "I wanted to see if I could make it a positive using the QuestWorld program. It didn't work."

Race stared hard at the screen. "Jessie, we have to do something. If Jager can call to Jonny when he's in QuestWorld and Jonny's not, I don't know how closely they're connected. We have to do something." Race directed his gaze to his daughter, who let a hint of a smirk play across her mouth.

"I'm ready."

**In QuestWorld:**

Jager stood over Jonny's prone form, looking down at his inverted twin. The blonde winced as he unsuccessfully tried to get up. He finally gave up and just rolled onto his back, looking up at Jager's mocking smile.

"What… do you want from her?" Jonny asked.

Jager replied sneeringly, "What you already have, Jonny-boy."

Jonny spoke between breaths. "I… I have… nothing… from her."

Jager ignored his protests and instead moved gracefully around Jonny, talking to him all the while. "Why is it that the blonde runt gets the girl and I get _nothing_!? I mean, sure, I've got looks, charm, wit, and what do you have? A _family_," Jager spat disdainfully. He kicked Jonny's kneecap for emphasis, smiling when he heard Jonny's grunt of pain.

"Why… do you… hurt me?" Jonny asked, clearly in pain.

"Because I like _pain_. I like _your_ pain. And I _really_ like causing it." Jager paused and said conversationally, "That's from a book, you know. Good book, too. It was called Demon in My View, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Lovely girl, once you get to know her." He glanced down and noticed that Jonny was regaining some color and knelt, fastening a hand around Jonny's windpipe. He squeezed fractionally, electing a moan of suffering from the blonde. But then Jager froze as a thin, pale hand fastened itself around _his_ neck.

"Let him go," Jessie Bannon growled.

"Ah, Jessica!" Jager said brightly, ignoring the fact that one quick motion could easily cause his death. "Come to join the little family reunion?"

A wry smile twisted Jessie's mouth. "What family reunion? As far as I can see, you're not related in any manner to either Jonny or me."

A confused look flitted across Jager's features, but he shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. "Of course I'm related to Jonny. How else could he look like me?"

"How else could _you_ look like _him_?" Jessie challenged, releasing her hold on Jager's neck. With a nearly imperceptible motion, she swept her foot around, knocking a very surprised Jager away from Jonny.

"How could _I_ look like _him_? It's impossible. An original can't look like a copy, and of course _I'm_ the original." Jager got up from his rather ungraceful position on his posterior, unblushingly brushing his exoskeleton off. "Now leave us, Jessica. It's not right for the prize to be involved in the fight."

Jessie's eyes flashed angrily, and Jonny tucked himself into a ball to prepare for the coming explosion. _Oh boy,_ he thought, observing her reddening face. _She's gonna blow!_

"It's not _what_?" she whispered in a dangerously low voice.

Jager winced, instantly realizing that he'd said the wrong thing. "You should be flattered," he answered quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation. "Two boys in their prime of life, dueling for the right to claim you as a part of his life…"

"Not a duel," Jonny interjected from his position just behind Jessie. He was standing now, but seemed to have some trouble remaining straight. Jessie moved back a little and slipped an arm around Jonny's waist, trying to help him support himself.

Jonny took a deep breath and told Jager, "This wasn't a duel. A duel is undertaken with both the consent and knowledge of both participants. You called to me, forced me to join you in here, and then started attacking me. This was no duel."

Jessie frowned and asked incredulously, "Wait, he _called_ to you?" Jonny nodded his head, and Jessie answered with a rather dubious look.

Jonny tried to explain. "Jess, it was like there were two voices in my head. One was me and normal, you know? The other… it sounded a little like me, but was… not. It was practically screeching at me to get myself into QuestWorld, and it came with not a little pain. As I got closer to the lab, the pain began lessening, and was gone when I entered QuestWorld. But then this idiot started attacking me, and…"

Jonny abruptly winced and laid a hand on his sore ribs. "Jess," he said, lifting his eyes to hers. "Jess, I can't breathe."

Jessie watched in horror as one of her best friends slowly sank to the ground, ashen-faced.

**In the real world:**

Hadji heard the alert go off for a few beeps before shutting down, and he swung around to inspect the monitors above Jessie and Jonny, trying to find out what was wrong. His features drained of color, due to fear, and he called out to Race and Dr. Quest frantically. The two fathers came running from where they were taking a break somewhere else in the lighthouse.

"What is it?!" Race shouted, brandishing a fireplace poker (Hadji secretly grimaced, not sure that he wanted to know where that thing had been). But Dr. Quest sought out the screens instinctively, and his mouth set into a grim line when he saw what was there.

"He's stopped breathing, Race," Benton said shortly. "Hadji, get the first aid kit." The boy nodded and left the room. "Not that it'll be any help," Dr. Quest mumbled pessimistically before saying, "Race, you've done CPR before." Race nodded and moved toward the immobile Jonny, Dr. Quest watching a few feet away.

A few breaths and pumps later, Race grunted, "He's not coming around yet. Benton, if we can't get him breathing within the next two minutes, it's most likely that he'll die from lack of oxygen to his brain."

"_Merde_," Benton swore in French. He turned to the returning Hadji and asked, "Is there anything that you've ever heard of that could help Jonny?"

Hadji shook his head sorrowfully. "Not unless you count in _The Matrix_, when Neo died and Trinity brought him back to life with a…" He trailed off, twin light bulbs going up over his and Benton's head.

"With a kiss," they said together.

**In QuestWorld:**

Jessie tried frantically to wake Jonny up, tears cascading down her face. "Jonny, Jonny, please wake up," she whispered.

"Sorry, babe," Jager whispered into her ear; she jumped, startled, since she hadn't heard him approaching.

"Sorry," Jager repeated. "Looks like you're gonna be stuck with me."

"Over my dead body," she spat, her tears drying in the heat of her anger.

"Oh, come on, Jess," he replied with a laugh. "You can't say that being with the bad guy doesn't have its charms." Jager easily took Jessie's arm and moved her from her position next to Jonny. She fought to break away from him, but he held on, his arms easily encircling her hips.

"That's the terrible thing about these exoskeletons," he whispered to her. "You can't really… _feel_ anything." He pressed forward, forcing his mouth onto hers, but then he grunted in pain when she kneed him.

"I guess you can feel some, can't you Jager?" she asked sweetly. He fell over, down, but not yet out.

She ignored Jager and moved back to Jonny's side. She touched his hands gently, gasping when she felt how cold they were.

"What's happened to you, Jonny?" she wondered softly. "When did you get so cold?"

A single tear found its way to the end of her nose, falling onto Jonny's cheek. Jessie gently reached out and brushed it away, smiling through her grief. "It looks like you're crying, Jonny. Like you're crying with my tears."

Oblivious to the audience they had both within and without QuestWorld, she leaned over and carefully brushed her lips across his. She finally pulled back and swiped her tears away from her face, standing unsteadily.

"I never told you what I felt," she whispered.

But the moment shattered when the mocking tones of Jager reached her ears; he was back up, fully recovered from the hit he'd taken from Jessie.

"My, my, my, what a touching moment in QuestWorld. Almost like a soap opera." Jager feigned wiping a tear from his face before laughing. "How romantic," he told Jessie sarcastically.

Jessie swung around, furious.

"Shut _up_!" she spat, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides.

Jager laughed derisively. "Or _what_?" he challenged. "You'll kiss me to death? _Frightening_."

"You self-centered, egotistical, stupid _carbon copy_," she hissed. "Why did you do this to him? Why did you have to kill him? What had he ever done to you?"

"He took what was rightfully mine," Jager snapped back, stung by the carbon copy remark.

"Oh yeah, and what was that?" Jessie snarled, the landscape around them changing to fit her fury as QuestWorld read her emotions. The sky gradually darkened to ebony streaked with blue lightning, as the ground became hard and rocky.

"He took _you_."

Author Notes

Yes, I do realize that the whole "waken with a kiss" thing is a bit trite, but it was the first thing I came up with. By all means, if any of you have a better idea, share it. I'll redo the chapter if another idea is better. Cheers.


	3. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: **Jonny Quest is awesome, but I don't own him... tear

**Last time:**

"He took what was rightfully mine," Jager snapped back, stung by the carbon copy remark.

"Oh yeah, and what was that?" Jessie snarled, the landscape around them changing to fit her fury as QuestWorld read her emotions. The sky gradually darkened to ebony streaked with blue lightning, as the ground became hard and rocky.

"He took _you_."

**In QuestWorld:**

Jessie laughed derisively before spitting out, "Took _me_?! That's rich! What's next, are you going to tell me that you two were twins and separated at birth?"

Jager smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "That's another story, Jessica."

"Whatever." Jessie dropped into a Krav Maga ready stance. "I don't have time for stories. The only thing I have time for is kicking your sorry arse across QuestWorld." She charged at him, growling when he leapt out of the way.

Jager landed just behind her and snarled, "Jessie, I don't want to fight you."

"And I didn't want Jonny to die!" she roared back. "Looks like neither of us will get our wish."

"Spare me the corn, Jessie. What's with you?" Jager began backing up, fearful of the gleam in Jessie's eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

Jessie laughed insanely as she changed shape. She had called on QuestWorld to aid her, and it was making her feral. She was becoming a female wolf. The laughter changed to a howl as Jessie snapped at Jager angrily.

**In the Lighthouse:**

Hadji shuddered slightly as a voice in his head called, "Hadji… Hadji, I suggest that you remove her before she hurts someone, perhaps _me_."

"Yes, master…" Hadji answered dully. Jager had also infiltrated his head along with Jonny's, just to be safe. Now he exerted control over not just Jonny, but Hadji as well. Jager had cleaned Hadji's mind of things as he saw fit, which accounted for why Hadji had "forgotten" so many things within the last few days. Hadji went over to the shaking Jessie and absently began the shut**-**down sequence, just as Race turned to see what he was doing.

"Hadji, _no_!" Race, well, _raced_ forward and held Hadji's hands behind his back. "Don't!" You'll kill her!"

Hadji struggled to break free, hissing, "I must obey! I must obey!" Hadji threw his head back and connected with Race's chin, Race crumpling to the ground, stunned.

"Jessie…" Race managed before losing consciousness.

**In QuestWorld:**

Jessie fell to the ground in pain, gasping for breath as she reverted back to human form. Jager had underestimated his own skills, and had easily subdued Jessie even though she had a feral wolf form.

"Sorry, Jessie," Jager whispered as he positioned himself for a deathblow. "I'm really sorry, because I really do love you. But you've become a danger to me, and you must be removed." He put his hands around Jessie's neck to strangle her, and, just as was about to kill Jessie, a pale white hand snaked out and grasped his neck, much as Jessie had when she'd first arrived.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you," a familiar face hissed, "that it is impolite to hit a lady?"

Through the faint spots dancing in Jessie's vision, she could just barely make out a shock of blonde hair with piercing blue eyes just beneath.

"Jonny?" she breathed, just before she succumbed to the hypnotic call of the darkness, behind which lay Death, waiting with open arms.

**--**Author's Notes**--**

I'm so so so so SO freaking sorry that it's taken me this long to update this fic. If no one is even reading this anymore, I completely understand. It's just that I've been working more on my original fiction, with less time for my fanfiction. I have a fictionpress account, if anyone would like to see what has kept me away from this fic so long: Please, if anyone is still reading this, review. Blessed be, _Luna_


	4. NotSoTriumphant Return

**Disclaimer:** Much as I'd like to, I don't own Jonny Quest or anything affiliated with the Quest logo… brand… whatever. I hate disclaimers. Oh yeah, and the "tuff" concept, as far as I know, belongs to S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, which I don't own either.

**Author's Note:** Jessie will be a bit OOC in this chapter; I blame hormones and the fact that she's been knocked out for around three days. Jonny is a guy; it's _always_ the hormones. And, uh, some stuff won't really make sense in this chapter, but I really wanted this chapter to be humorous, as opposed to how… I guess _dark_… the previous chapters were.

**Last time:** To make a long scene short, Jessie was being choked to death by Jager (wanna-be boyfriend gone wrong), and was saved by Jonny, who apparently died previously. Has Jonny returned from beyond the grave? Was he ever dead at all?

**In the REAL WORLD:**

Jessie awoke after falling into a deep sleep induced by that run in her throat had had with Jager's hands; the semi-coma lasted for around two to three days. She awoke not because she was finally rested, but rather because she heard a familiar voice calling her.

"Jessie," it taunted her from far away. "Bannon, you're too tuff to die. And what would be the point, anyway? Jager's _gone_, dude. I killed him myself."

Jessie finally opened dull green eyes a fraction to mumble, "Shut light off. Shut up," before rolling over so that she could sleep more. But she hadn't counted on rolling right off of the bed on which she lay. She would have hit the floor _hard_ if strong arms hadn't streaked out to catch her.

"Jess!" Jonny's familiar voice chided. "Dude, you're up!"

Jessie winced. "Not so _looouuud_," she whined. As an afterthought she added, "Dude," while frowning cheekily up at her childhood friend. Jonny unceremoniously dumped her back onto the cot that she'd been sleeping on, ignoring Jessie's angry grunt in his direction.

Jessie lightly touched a hand to her aching forehead, groaning. "Ugh, I feel like I just downed a litre of Wild Turkey Whiskey," she mumbled, frowning down at her bare legs. She did a double-take just to make sure before eyeing Jonny with an angry gleam.

"Quest," she ground out. "Where. Are. My. **_Pants!_**" She yelled the last word at him, wincing when her own loudness jarred her head even more.

Jonny smirked, blue eyes gleaming mischievously. "Pants, pants, pants," he murmured to himself, tapping a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Nope, dunno what you're talking about!" he finished cheerfully.

"Jonny." Jessie threw caution to the winds, not caring if he saw anything, getting very slowly, very deliberately. "I swear, if you don't give up the ghost right now, I will personally castrate you," she threatened, meaning every word, as she stalked towards him.

Jonny took a moment to admire the sight of the tall, lean Jessie Bannon striding towards him, letting his gaze run from her glittering eyes, to her full lips that were currently pressed into a thin angry line, all the way down her white shapely legs. Then he pulled a hand from behind his back as he feigned surprise.

"Ohhh… You mean _these_ pants." He dangled them tantalizingly in front of Jessie, jerking his hand away when she reached for them. "Ah, ah, ah," he mocked. "Not just yet." He tossed the wanted clothes item behind him before bodily blocking Jessie. He folded his arms across his chest resolutely. "You have to go through _me_ first." He dropped into a ready stance. "I'll take anything you can throw at me."

Jessie shrugged, an idea tugging at the corner of her mind. _He has no idea what I'm gonna pull,_ she thought in satisfaction. She slowly closed the distance between them, a seductive smirk adorning her features. "Jonny," she purred, loving the confusion evident on his face. She let her fingertips trail across his face, enjoying the flush that rose up at her touch. She couldn't help it; she had to express her amusement somehow. And it was her twitching mouth that became her plot's downfall.

Her quirking mouth drew Jonny's attention, and he let a corner of his lips twitch up in recognition of her plan. _So _that's_ what she's trying,_ he realized. _Wonder how she'll like it when I turn the tables!_

"Jessie," he whispered in a husky voice as he brushed a hand across her cheekbones. He let his hand slip off her face and down her neck and arms until it rested on her hip. She glanced down nervously, but the moment of shock was gone as quickly as it had come. When she looked up again, her mouth was mere centimetres away from Jonny's. She gulped discreetly, but rallied quickly. She looped her arms about his neck, lessening the already miniscule space between their bodies, and brought his face even closer to hers. She hovered her mouth just over his, smirking.

Jonny shocked both Jessie and himself when he brushed his mouth against hers. Jessie breathed in sharply and rose onto her toes to match his height better. Jessie again gasped, but this time not from an unfamiliar feeling, though it was unfamiliar coming from Jonny. Her standing on her toes brought her body flush against Jonny's, which was much more toned than it used to be. She still wasn't used to the idea of Scrawny Jonny having such defined muscles, and feeling them against her unnerved her.

Inexplicably, lyrics from her favourite musical – _Wicked_ – ran through her mind.

_Kiss me too fiercely; hold me too tight,_ she thought a bit giddily. _If it turns out it's over too fast, I'll make every last moment last, **as long as you're mine**… Somehow, I've fallen under your spell… I'll wake up my body and make up for lost time… Say there's no future for us as a pair; I know I may know – I don't care._

Finally, Jonny broke the kiss, looking down at Jessie dazedly. He managed to get a hand on her chin and tilted it up so that he didn't have to bend over too far to reach her mouth. Jessie made a soft, contented sound in the back of her throat when their lips again met, and Jonny took heart from that. He carefully parted his lips and probed at Jessie's mouth with his tongue, at which Jessie abruptly broke away.

"Urgh!" she released a strangled cry into her hands. She lifted her gaze and glared at Jonny's ice blue eyes. "You!" she accused, jabbing a finger at him. "All the little 'seduction'" – she made air quotes – "was so I could get my pants back! And then, it escalated, and…" She shook her head, again groaning aloud. A thought occurred to her that made her eyebrow twitch in discomfort.

"Jonny," she said slowly. Jonny met her gaze without shifting his facial expression at all. "Why were my pants off in the first place?" she asked pseudo-sweetly.

"That was entirely my fault, actually," a new voice answered from behind her. She whirled around and swore when green eyes met green eyes.

Jager moved into the light, nonchalantly tossing a knife up and down in his hand. Jessie would have liked nothing more than to jab said knife into Jager's hand and listen to the screams. A cocky smile lit Jager's face as he seemingly read what was racing through Jessie's mind. He let his gaze lazily traverse Jessie's lithe figure, liking what he saw.

"Your exoskeleton really doesn't do you justice, Jessica, dear," he drawled. A wicked smile lit his features. "Did you miss me?"

-Author's Notes-

:cackles: Hello again, my dears! I apologize for the lateness of this new chapter, but you can blame my rotten teachers for that. :blameblameblame: I assume you all had a right cheery little V-Day, am I right? Well, well done, medium well. Anyway, review! Blessed be, _Luna_


	5. Secrets and Doing a Flit

A/N: Very short chapter this update; I'm sorry. I'm not sure how much longer this fic will go on… Any bets? Read on, children! 

Jessie turned and glared at Jonny. "What. Is. _He_. Doing. Here?" she asked, enunciating each word to the point that all were sentences in their own right. She was trying very hard not to acknowledge Jager's accursed presence, hoping against hope that perhaps she was hallucinating.

Jager walked towards her, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Well, don't look so surprised, love. Did you really think that your boy toy here would stop _me_?"

A cold emerald glare answered his question. "You stay away from me," she hissed, backing away quickly, suddenly thankful that she'd worn a long, loose shirt on their last date that covered her legs enough. _Gods,_ she thought detachedly, _that was only last night… I think._

Jonny moved behind Jessie, carefully wrapping his arms around her waist and pinning her arms to her sides. "Jess," he soothed, "it's okay. It's just Hadji." He felt the garnet-haired girl relax into his embrace, and she repeated the name in a wondering voice. "Yeah. It's just Hadji, Jess. Nothing to worry about…"

Hadji came towards her, glad to be rid of Jager's voice in his head. When Jonny had destroyed Jager in QuestWorld, all of Jager's influence in the real world had disappeared. He also tried soothing Jessie, "It's just me. Jager's gone. He can't get to you, I swear."

But it was not Hadji's voice and form that Jessie was hearing and seeing. She instead heard Jager's mocking tone and his dark, suave features, and she was getting mad. She started struggling in Jonny's grasp, gasping out, "Let me go! Jonny, you lied! You _lied_!" Jessie managed to move out of his arms long enough to turn and slug him once across the face.

"You lied to _me_, Jonny Quest," Jessie sneered, breathing heavily. "You _lied_. You're no better than _he_ is," she yelled, pointing at Hadji/Jager.

Jonny watched, dumbfounded, as Jessie ran out of the room. He touched his already bruising cheekbone and cast a confused gaze to Hadji. "What the hell…?"

Hadji shrugged. "Like I know?"

Jessie flew down the hallway, bare feet pounding the tiles swiftly. She halted only when her father caught her upper arms as she ran by. "Jessie? What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"No! Leave me alone!" she screamed, wrenching herself free of his grip. Jessie kept running until she had her bedroom door shut and barricaded behind her. She quickly crossed to her closet and yanked out a pair of blue jeans, tugging them on hurriedly. A hand groped around at her night table, finding a rubber band and using it to tie up messy red hair. Some clothes and toiletries she threw into a bag, making plans to collect some food from the kitchen on her way out of the compound. Jessie pulled on her trainers, sweeping a bit of jewelry into her sweatshirt pocket along with some money.

She ghosted down the hallways, moving soundlessly in the shadows. She paused twice, first to post something on a door and then to spare a tear as she said goodbye to her home.

Elsewhere, Jonny found a note tacked to his door written in Jessie's hand. _'I can't stay with you guys. Jager will have too many opportunities to hurt all of us with me here. But I love all of you. I love _you_, Jonny. Be careful. Jessie.'_

He crumpled the note in a cold fist. "I'll find you, Jessie," he vowed. "Run where you like, I will find you. We need you." A pause. "_I_ need you."

Author's Notes---

Ooh, _shocking_… Anyway, I'm a little stuck. If anyone has an idea… Review! Blessed be, _Luna_


	6. To Whom It May Concern:

To whom it may concern i.e., all you **phantom readers** and _lovely_ reviewers:

Continuity of this fic will cease from this point on... unless by some work of God my schoolwork completes itself, my term paper writes itself, choir ceases to exist, my novel editor stops demanding that I meet deadlines, and my Theatre teacher disappears in a puff of blue and yellow smoke.

I apologize for the spastic updates, but you now know that I have no time with which to finish this fic. If anyone would like to take on that task, I urge you to e-mail me **_with ideas_**, but preferably with a fully completed storyline already in hand. No, I will not give you my outline to work with; those ideas are my own, and some of them are going into my novel.

If anyone has any questions, then please e-mail me. And, in regards to the "**phantom readers**" reference: you know who you are. You are the ones who read a story, but do not review, or acknowledge in any way, shape, or form that you have been to the story. We authors post things on this site for a _reason_, for acknowledgement and feedback on our writing style from peers. It would be nice if you -- and, as stated before, _**you know who you are**_ -- gave us a few words of encouragement, of suggestion on how to better our stories.

Thanks for all the memories, kids. And the lovely reviews.

In all respect,  
_Luna_


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